Bronx, N.Y. – (April 19, 2019) – Saint Louis' Cody Luther struck out 11 over eight innings, while a seventh inning triple play ended a potential Fordham rally, as the Billikens edged the Rams, 4-1, at Houlihan Park on Friday.
With the loss, Fordham fell to 23-18 on the year, 8-7 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Louis improved to 17-21 overall, 6-6 in the league.
The game started as a pitcher's duel between Fordham's
John Stankiewicz and Saint Louis' Cody Luther. Over the first five innings, Stankiewicz was dealing with seven strikeouts and no hits allowed, while Luther, who threw a no-hitter last weekend, had seven strikeouts and gave up just one hit to
Jake MacKenzie.
The tide turned in the sixth, as the Billikens recorded three singles in the first four batters to take a 1-0 lead, the last being an RBI-single by
Scott Youngbrandt.
Jake Baker
After Saint Louis made it 2-0 in the seventh on an RBI-single by Braxton Stowe, Fordham looked they were going to get Luther as
Justin Bardwell and
Matt Tarabek reached base on back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the seventh. However,
Nick Labella hit a line drive, one-hopper right to the third baseman, who tagged third base and then went around the horn for a triple play and kill the Fordham rally.
The Billikens tacked on two more runs in the eighth for a 4-0 lead before Fordham cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the frame. With two outs,
Alvin Melendez walked, stole second, and scored on an RBI-single by
Jake Baker.
The game then went to the ninth, where Fordham needed a rally and would get the tying run to the plate against Saint Louis reliever Ryan Lefner. Bardwell reached base on an error with one out and moved to second on a double by Tarabek. Lefner though would strike out Labella and pinch-hitter
Billy Godrick to record his second save of the week, and third of the season.
Stankiewicz (6-2) took the loss, allowing two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts over seven innings. At the plate, Tarabek was 2-for-4 with a double, with Baker going 1-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base.
The Fordham baseball team will next be in action on Tuesday, April 23
rd, when the Rams play at Fairleigh Dickinson at 3:00 PM in New Jersey.